Television

Ostrow: "Breaking Amish" is TLC's culture-clash reality-TV bid

Sabrina, left, adopted by Mennonites, Jeremiah and Kate, both Amish, deal with a New York City culture clash in TLC's "Breaking Amish." (Provided by Discovery Communications)

We've been down this bumpy road before. The one with the horse and buggy, the wide-eyed teens, the traditional Amish parents worried about their young, and the promise of adventure offered by the outside world (not to mention some reality TV producers).

Time for another fish-out-of-water story, featuring Amish and Mennonite kids looking for adventure and a sense of belonging in the modern world.

In 2004, the old UPN network premiered "Amish in the City," a controversial series about Amish young people during Rumspringa, a period during which they go somewhat wild and decide whether to return to their farm communities and religious roots. Those Amish were paired with hard-partying non-Amish kids in an L.A. manse and let loose. That contrived series was an offshoot of the more serious documentary "Devil's Playground."

It was eye-opening for those unfamiliar with the Amish and for those unfamiliar with how crass reality TV involving teenagers can be.

The whole idea screamed exploitation. Take a bunch of sheltered, rather defenseless teens and expose them to the most extreme dilemmas of youth and possibilities of overindulgence, all while the cameras roll. Stand by, and see who disintegrates.

Now comes "Breaking Amish," a similar effort focusing on somewhat more mature subjects, premiering Sunday at 8 p.m. on TLC.

The setup is obviously primed for a telegenic culture clash: Take four Amish and one Mennonite 20- and 30-somethings who don't have TVs, let alone the savvy to deal with "reality TV" from the inside, and drop them in Manhattan. Everything is unfamiliar, from blue jeans and cars to skyscrapers.

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Some are going to embrace this new freedom; others are going to be overwhelmed. The very personal reactions make for grand voyeurism.

Abe, 22, explains that the only way to let go and burn off steam at home was to jump on a trampoline.

"The last time I had fun was probably two years ago," he says. Now, in the big city, fun comes in all forms — from driving a car for the first time to booze, beach wear and the temptations of sex.

His mother warns that if he comes back, he won't be able to eat with the family. "You will be shunned. You're just gonna be, like, an outcast."

Kate, 21, the Bishop's daughter, senses "there's something bigger, better out there." After a lifetime without pictures of herself (the Amish tradition teaches that submitting to photographs encourages vanity), and without modern clothing, Kate now wants to be, wait for it, a model.

Jeremiah, 32, has a hankering to drive a car. He'll have to break it to his almost-fiancée that he's leaving. Rebecca, 20, wants to try all the city has to offer, but mostly to fall in love.

Sabrina, 25, whose adoptive family is Mennonite, longs to know more about Puerto Ricans and Italians since her original ethnicity is half each. She wants to go to the big city, wear earrings and "figure out who I am as a person." And to sing. At home, she sings to the chickens (among the Mennonites, singing is considered showing off). She has tried to fit in but simply can't.

Unlike Rumspringa, this experience may be a permanent one for these young people. The nine-hour series chronicles their serious consideration of leaving their families and rituals behind and committing to new lives and careers on the outside.

Souped-up sound effects, sly editing, the introduction of a parent who has come to fetch a child back to the farm — these manipulations help tell the story. It's still so-called reality TV, but the TLC series is more serious, less rigged than the UPN affair. These folks aren't playing a game in L.A., they're trying on new lives in N.Y.

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